76 OUT OF DOORS. 



grcmdis, one of our largest dragon-flies. I afterwards 

 took more specimens, not only of that but of other 

 species, including the Demoiselle, but the present 

 creature is enough to act as a sample of the rest. 



To my mind this is one of the most extraordinary 

 beings that the world produces. There is no need of 

 travelling to tropical countries for Nature's marvels. 

 They are lavishly poured out at our feet, and we only 

 have to recognise them. Its mode of progression is one 

 that has lately been taken up as a new method of pro- 

 pelling steam-vessels, and its mode of seizing its prey 

 displays a power of modification which very few struc- 

 tures attain. I took a number of these larvae home, 

 and watched their proceedings very attentively. They 

 were well worth watching. 



In the first place we will see how the creature propels 

 itself. The body of the larva is long and tapering, rather 

 larger in the middle, and ending in five horny spikes, 

 which can be made to diverge from each other or can 

 be pressed closely together, when they look like a single 

 point. At the junction of these spikes is a circular 

 aperture, large enough to receive an ordinary pin, and 

 this aperture leads to a hollow space within the body. 

 In this hollow are the gills, and respiration is carried 

 on by means of the water which is drawn in and ejected 

 through the orifice at the root of the horny spikes. 

 When the creature is at rest the water is drawn in and 

 out very quietly, and producing a gentle current that 



